From non-believer to Christian author
I was an atheist, living my life my way and getting nowhere fast. I was disabled, in chronic pain and was depressed. I finally had enough and called out to Jesus to heal me or take me, as I’d had enough of life and wanted the pain to end. Jesus touched me and his power pushed me to the floor. I was shaking and sobbing but when I stood up all the pain, and all the depression was gone! I gave my life to Jesus there and then, I started going to church, got baptised and my life took off! I began to get ideas for poetry in the small hours of the morning, which led me to write a book called Descending Dove, then another, Spirit in the Wind, and finally a children’s book called Keith’s Teeth. My life has been so blessed by God that it’s unrecognisable! Hallelujah. All honour, all glory goes to God.
Melanie, by email
Seeing an instant response to prayer
One day my friend Laura from San Diego sent me a message asking me to pray for her. She works as a lawyer, her husband is often away as he works as a pilot, and the youngest of her three kids had a cold, so was up all night. She said: “I feel squeezed thin, with nothing to give, and am feeling distant from God and questioning whether he really speaks to us, and whether prayer matters. I am starting to feel cynical.”
I said I would pray. The next day I went for a walk in my lunch hour along the Thames at Hammersmith and I prayed for Laura, but afterwards I wondered if my prayer would make any difference, or if Laura would even know I had prayed. But immediately I heard God say: “You will know the effect of your prayers today.”
At about 5.30pm my time, I got a message from Laura. She said: “I had a dream right before I woke up. It was about running the race to win the prize and being disciplined like an athlete. Usually I don’t remember my dreams, and I definitely don’t wake up thinking about God, but in the dream in my half-awake, half-asleep state, I knew I was OK, that God loved me, even though I wasn’t the best athlete at the moment, and I might be sitting on the bench. It encouraged me and gave me renewed excitement to read the word. It was a major spiritual shift, as usually I wake up and feel heavy, so I immediately knew you had prayed.”
She also said that she had woken up at 7.15am, which would have been 2.15pm UK time – just when I finished praying. So I was praying at exactly the time when she had the dream where God spoke to her.
God encouraged us both – showing us that prayer makes a difference, and that he moves when we pray.
Jemimah, by email
Healing after 18 years of pain
Since the age of 14 I had terrible shooting pains in my liver/kidney area. I saw top specialists but they couldn’t figure out what was causing it. The pain would come on every six months; a handful of times it was so unbearable I had to call an ambulance to get morphine. But then in 2021, I was in Brazil when I experienced terrible pain again at a church service. A women working there prayed for me. During the first prayer nothing happened, then two women prayed for me and still nothing happened. Then, on the third prayer, while I had my eyes closed I saw a black shadow the size of my hand leave my liver/kidney area! I asked those praying for me: “Did you see that?” and a woman said: “Yes I saw a black shadow leave your body!” (Her eyes had been open.) Since summer 2021 I have not experienced any pain in that area of my body. I do still need healing for something else but this experience has given me such faith!
Bella, by email
Faith on the streets
In May my friend Sarah and I went out with others on the streets of Chester to share the good news of Jesus. Before we even set off from Freedom Church (our meeting point), a woman arrived, thinking it was Sunday; she desperately wanted God’s help and was led to salvation and filled with the Holy Spirit. She left noticeably changed and excited and decided to come back the next day for church. When we went into the streets we met a dear woman who was instantly healed of long-term back pain she had suffered from since 2007 when we prayed for her. We had many opportunities to talk and pray with people for over two hours before we had to relinquish our spot to a waiting teenage busker from Queen’s School, who heard about Jesus for the very first time.
Kirstie, by email
What’s your story?
Testimonies are an important way of encouraging each other in faith and we’d love to hear your personal experiences of God, whether that’s a miracle story or Jesus standing with you in the storm.
Email us: womanalive@premier.org.uk
Please include your first name with your correspondence – but do let us know if you want to share anonymously. Entries may be edited for length and clarity.
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